Aventino Medical Group

Meet the Practitioners

An American internist and writer living in Rome since 1978, Dr. Levenstein follows an integrated approach to clinical practice, balancing advanced medical science with attention to psychological and social concerns. She is also a researcher and lecturer on the interactions between mind and body in organic disease.

“A love letter to Italy . . . The first chapters recount, with a combination of exasperation and humor, the years-long obstacle course she encountered in her quest to practice medicine in the country. She proceeds to talk about everything from what a well-dressed Italian physician should wear, to, in a particularly wise and witty chapter, love and sex from both an Italian and an American perspective. A timely epilogue discusses the Affordable Care Act from her unique position as an American expat and an Italian physician.”—Publishers Weekly

"These days, hundreds of policy papers and newspaper editorials regularly debate competing claims of medical efficiency, patient care, cost-containment, and expanding reach. But none do so with Levenstein’s humor and sensitivity to the human condition. And they certainly don’t make it fun — never mind being able to set the story in the Eternal City."—Madeleine Johnson (The American In Italia)

“One woman’s story of her medical journey from Harvard to Rome and her experiences, in medicine and life, as she practiced her profession in Italy. Her intelligent, candid and witty observations, with some moving and courageous insights, lead her and the reader to ask what medicine is and could be.”—Wallis Wilde-Menozzi, author of The Other Side of the Tiber, Reflections on Time in Italy

“A fascinating account of her life as an American doctor in the Eternal City, including an analysis of Italian healthcare that is both informed and terrifying. A must read for anyone contemplating to relocate to Rome...”—Matthew Kneale, author of Rome: a History in Seven Sackings

"Dr. Levenstein...has written a book that must be read. It proves that a stethoscope can be a good instrument to explore not just a person, but a society.”—Furio Colombo, journalist and writer, formerly of NYU

“Levenstein’s gripping account of her experience as an American doctor in Rome is more than a memoir, it is a portrait of a changing country and the evolution of healthcare.”—Barbie Latza Nadeau, author of Roadmap to Hell

"Susan Levenstein is arguably the wittiest internist on earth...and has the observational skills of a sardonic cultural anthropologist..." —Dr. Robert Sapolsky, author of Behave and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

"A smart, funny, charming, highly readable memoir of practicing medicine in Italy and is full of astute insights into the way Italy works...”—Alexander Stille, author of Benevolence and Betrayal and Excellent Cadavers

"This sharp-eyed, deeply thoughtful, often exhilarating book will enlighten you not only about what it’s like to be an American doctor in Italy but about the whole dolce vita way of life...”—Frederika Randall, journalist/translator/critic